Author(s): SMITH, A., DONNELLY, J., WHITE, A., SCOBIE, N., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, Country: UNITED KINGDOM, Abstract-ID: 1327

INTRODUCTION:
With the growth in professionalism, popularity and revenue in women’s soccer, greater investment is being made throughout academy environments to ensure young players can reach the physical, physiological, and mental demands of the sport. However, limited research at the youth level creates ambiguity when determining differences in physical loading between academy and senior players. Thus, this study aimed to compare physical IMU outputs between female U18 academy players and professional soccer players throughout pre-season.
METHODS:
Participants were recruited from the same Scottish women’s soccer team U18 squad (n = 19, mean age 16.5 ± 0.6 years) and 1st Team (n= 23, mean age = 25.1 ± 5.6 years) during the 2023/24 season. Top speed (m/s), Distance covered (m), Sprint count (n), Sprint Distance covered (m), and count of Acceleration and Deceleration actions (n) from IMU output were analysed (Playermaker). Descriptive statistics summarised key findings, with inferential methods utilised to determine variances between squads. Multivariate tests reported statistical significance at P<0.05 between squads for physical metrics.
RESULTS:
Mean weekly distance was significantly higher for U18 players in comparison to 1st team (5566.8 ± 1585.8km vs 4598.9 ± 2046.4km, P < 0.01). Mean weekly top speed (m/s) was significantly higher in 1st team in comparison to U18 squad (6.2 ± 0.7 m/s vs 5.9 ± 0.6 m/s, P < 0.01). Mean weekly sprint distance covered was significantly higher in 1st team versus U18 (72.9 ± 104.7m vs 40.8 ± 61.5 m, P<0.01). No significant differences were highlighted for mean weekly sprint count and count of acceleration and deceleration actions between squads (P > 0.05).
CONCLUSION:
These findings show that although U18s are exposed to a greater volume, this is performed at lower intensities within the pre-season window, and therefore potentially not replicating the high intensity intermittent nature of the game. These findings suggest the introduction of individualised speed thresholds appropriate for developmental state. Furthermore, formatting future training to incorporate more anaerobic physiological adaptations to help prepare academy players for the physical demands of professional soccer.